


Trapped together in Neverland

by Jadedemon76



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 13:34:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20507852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jadedemon76/pseuds/Jadedemon76
Summary: Summary: On the way to rescue Henry from Pan, Emma and Regina are separated from their group. They make their way through the jungle only to fall into one of Pan’s traps. How will they escape their magical prison? How will they fight the building tension between them? The answer to these questions and more.





	Trapped together in Neverland

Title: Trapped together in Neverland  
Rating: M  
Warnings: None  
Other tags: Trapped together

Summary: On the way to rescue Henry from Pan, Emma and Regina are separated from their group. They make their way through the jungle only to fall into one of Pan’s traps. How will they escape their magical prison? How will they fight the building tension between them? The answer to these questions and more.

Emma battled the relentless waves. She was cold, salt stained, and she ached from the strain of towing the unconscious body beside her. She pitched in the water until the coast of Neverland was in her sight. The shore before them loomed, she could see its white sand, lit up by the moon, like a beacon. The jungle beyond it rose ominously into the night. Emma continued to struggle forward.

The water was rough, but now that they were within the pull of the beach Emma no longer needed to fight against it so violently. She let herself relax as they bobbed steadily to shore. When Emma’s toe brushed sand, a strangled sob choked her. The effort that she had spent in the swim from the wrecked ship to land had been enormous. 

The length of three waves more and then she could stagger forward on foot, all the while she managed her sleeping burden as carefully as she could.

Then they were to shore. She fell to her knees in the sand and clumsily rolled her companion onto her back. Breath still came to her in shallow puffs and when Emma saw this she sagged with relief. She allowed herself a moment to collect her own breath before she turned her attention back to the woman beside her. 

“Regina…” Emma said. She gently shook Regina’s shoulder and said her name again. “Wake up.”

Emma tried not to be worried, but her heart pounded harder all the same. Regina had been unconscious since Emma had found her in the wreckage of the Jolly Roger. She hadn’t seen Regina go in, she didn’t know what injuries she might have sustained. 

Emma looked at her face and neck. She awkwardly inspected her chest and gave her stomach the briefest of glances. Regina had light bruising all over and a shallow cut on her forehead. The cut had not bled long, and it seemed that the salt water had already begun to work its healing properties on it. All things considered Regina looked good, better in fact than Emma herself might.

Emma was sore all over and knew that she must be sporting an impressive bruise across her cheek. When the ship had splintered a hunk of the hull had struck her so hard that she had fallen into the sea. Now that she wasn’t bobbing in the cold water it had started to throb. Emma tried to push away the pain and focus on the woman on the ground by her side. 

Though Regina’s breathing was shallow, Emma thought that that could be attributed to their perilous trip to land. She was satisfied for now that Regina was no longer in eminent danger, if only Regina would wake up.

“Come on Regina-” Emma said. She brushed Regina’s hair back from her forehead. Her fingers were at first feather light upon her face. Then when Regina didn’t respond she began to squeeze and massage Regina’s shoulder. When that failed she then felt for her pulse at her neck, checking again for the steady thrum of her heartbeat. Regina’s skin was warm despite their chilly swim. Emma tried not to relish in the feel of it against her own icy fingers.

Eventually under Emma’s persistent hand, Regina stirred with a shudder and a groan. When her eyes focused she gasped, her chest fluttered

“Hey, you’re ok,” Emma said. She moved away from Regina. Then said, “We were in an accident.” 

Regina took several breaths; her hand hovered at her chest while she steadied herself. She took in their surroundings and shivered again. 

“What happened?” Regina asked. Her voice was low and raspy.

“We were attacked on the Jolly Roger,” said Emma. “The mermaids attacked us after y- their sentry was turned to wood. They swarmed the ship, wrecked it. I got knocked off and found you in the water. You were already unconscious,” Emma explained clumsily. 

Regina sensed the emptiness in Emma’s tone and asked, “The others?” 

“Yeah, I’m not sure,” Emma sighed and cleared her throat, “Like I said, mermaids completely destroyed the ship. At first I could hear them screaming,” her voice wavered.

“But, it was dark,” she continued. “-The mermaids were louder than we were. I don’t know if they got away, or…” Emma trailed off and batted at the tear that threatened to fall. 

Regina dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands. She shook. Guilt and fear roiled in her stomach. She had no memory of the shipwreck, the last thing her mind supplied her with was arguing with Snow White about what to do with the mermaid. It seemed as though she had been wrong.

“And where exactly did you find me?” Regina asked.

“A few meters out,” Emma said. She turned to look at her. “You were floating with some wooden slats.” 

Regina said nothing and Emma continued.

“At first the mermaids were going through the wreckage to look for us. Pulling you along on the wood was too loud so I side-stroked out of there before they could find us,” Emma said; then she wouldn’t meet Regina’s eyes.

Regina’s gaze slid to Emma’s figure. She assessed her in the darkness, taking in the state of the woman before her. Emma was drenched just as Regina was, but Emma had the misfortune of being thrown from the ship in nothing but a soft sleeveless top. 

Regina found that though it was night, Emma was quite on display for her in the reflective moonlight. She averted her eyes and then crossed her hands over her own chest as her shivers all but disappeared. She cleared her throat.

“The others might have hidden among the rubble too, might have washed up nearby,” said Regina. 

She scanned the beach around them. She noticed that there were piles of driftwood coming in on the waves.

“We can follow the wreckage,” she suggested, “It might be a trail.” 

Emma nodded her agreement. Regina pause, she was compelled to say something more to Emma, but everything that her mind brought to her was inadequate. 

“I can’t help but wonder,” Emma said before Regina could bring herself to speak, “if we should just continue on without them?” Emma’s voice was barely a whisper. 

Regina sighed. Of course she had been thinking the same thing but didn’t want to say so. Henry was the priority here. Regina would happily leave them to the sea if it meant brining Henry back safely. Time was of the essence. 

Though Regina’s guilt nagged at her. It was her fault that the mermaids had attacked with such force. If not for her they might’ve been docking by now, their ship and numbers still intact. She knew what Henry would want her to do.

“We need their backup, loath as I am to admit it,” Regina said quietly. Emma sagged at Regina’s words and Regina could see Emma’s own guilt darkened by the shadows.

“We will find them Miss Swan, and when we do we will get Henry back,” Regina said and reached out a tentative hand to Emma’s arm. 

The two women barely, if ever, touched. This gesture was enough to pull Emma’s gaze from the expansive water before them, to meet Regina’s eyes. In that moment Emma was inexplicably glad that it was Regina marooned with her here. 

No one else could understand the scope and level of desperation she felt. The desperation that was strong enough to make her gamble against the wellbeing of her parents and the others. Henry. Henry was what mattered most, and Emma knew that above all other things, this was where Regina and she would find common ground. They needed each other to save him.

“Ok,” Emma breathed, still holding Regina’s gaze. “Then let’s go.”

“What? Now?” Regina asked, slightly taken aback. 

“Why not now? No time like the present, right?” Emma said, though she didn’t move.

“Are you well enough to go now?” Regina asked, her voice tipping into a higher register of concern. 

Regina noticed even in the moonlight how pale Emma looked. Her lips had almost a blue tinge to them. There was an ugly bruise on her cheek that made her face look garish in the night. How long had the swim to the beach taken? How much of a toll had her unconscious body taken on Emma?

Emma sighed and shook her head. She dropped back and let herself lie against the sand, her eyes closed. Regina was about to press the blonde further, when Emma spoke again.

“I’m so tired, but there is no way I could just rest here knowing that everyone I care about is in danger,” she said.

“I understand, but you need to sleep. Your body will give out and then where will we be? Thirty minutes Miss Swan, then we will head out.”

Regina summoned a flame and let it spread across a few of the timbers that had washed to shore with them. She cloaked the flame with her magic so that they might rest easier. She was worn down and calling forth her magic was difficult, but one look at the shivering woman next to her was all she needed as motivation. They needed to be in fighting shape in case Pan chose to attack.

“Would you like me to…” Regina gestured to Emma’s face. “Your bruise?” 

“What?” Emma asked, startled by the gentleness in Regina’s tone. “Oh, yeah, sure.” 

Regina raised her hand and delicately cupped Emma’s cheek with her palm. She closed her eyes and Emma’s eyes soon closed in relief as a wash of soothing magic tingled at her sore skin.

“There.” Regina pulled back a moment later. Her voice trembled. 

Emma flexed her cheek, testing out Regina’s handiwork. The soreness was gone.

“Thank you,” said Emma, then she added. “Will you sleep too?” Her exhaustion suddenly too pressing to ignore.

“No, I don’t think so,” said Regina.

“You might consider it,” Emma said and she stretched out in the sand. 

Regina just hummed and Emma’s eyes fluttered closed.

A short time later Regina stirred Emma. Emma felt stiff, though her body had been warmed by the fire. It felt like no time had passed and Emma wished selfishly for a moment that she could curl up in the sand and sleep the whole night through. The night air at her back was cool though, and it fortified her enough to stir. 

While Emma had slept Regina had taken in as much detail of their surroundings as she could. She mapped the island from her limited view, mentally calculating what the terrain might become. She had never traveled in Neverland, nor had she spent much time studying it. 

What she knew of it chilled her, and not just because of that sprite Peter Pan. Neverland was said to be a vibrantly magical place and highly diverse. Pan may have been the top predator on the island, but that didn’t mean he was the only one. It was best to be prepared. 

Regina’s magic stores seemed to be depleted on the island and what little magic she had used earlier had cost her dearly. Now she wished that she hadn’t taxed herself with healing Emma’s bruise. Healing magic came with more difficulty for her and she reprimanded herself for wasting her energy on such a slight injury.

“How are you?” Emma asked, breaking through the fog of Regina’s thoughts. “Are you ready to start moving?”

Regina in fact felt vaguely unwell, but she couldn’t muster the strength to admit it. Besides, there was only one thing running through her mind and that was Henry. All roads led to Henry. She would rest when they found him.

“Yes,” Regina said. She looked over to Emma who met her with uncertain eyes. “Let’s go.” And so they did.

The night was still deep in its darkness. The jungle to their left stretched on endlessly and seemed to growl and hiss in the night. The beach remained empty but for them, yet still they kept to the tightly packed sand at the shoreline. Regina led them forward. Emma noticed that as time wore on Regina’s posture had started to sag. 

“Regina—” Emma tried, “you look tired maybe we should stop—” 

“I’m fine,” Regina snapped at once. The gentleness from before replaced with a strain. “We keep moving.”

They walked in silence. Regina was focused on the trek ahead, and Emma watched her warily. Each time they saw debris from the Jolly Roger they picked up their paces. Each time they were disappointed to find no signs of the others. 

Eventually Emma tried to cut the silence again, mostly to keep herself from mentally looping through all of the poor outcomes that might come to play out. But, when Emma tried to speak Regina snapped again at her to be quiet. 

“We are not strolling for our enjoyment Miss Swan,” she had hissed. “Keep quiet, unless you want Pan and his cronies to find us within the hour.” She had thrown a cutting glare behind her for good measure.

Emma was taken aback by Regina’s response. Hadn’t they been getting along? Her snappish manner awakened in Emma that familiar burn of anger and resentment. No one knew how to chip away at Emma’s inner peace quite like Regina did. Since Emma’s inner peace was already near an all time low, it was easy for Emma to slip into sullen silence. 

Now, instead of running through the list of possible terrible outcomes that this journey might bring, she began to mull over all of the reasons that this was Regina’s fault in the first place. It wasn’t hard; she had practice at this game. And after all, Regina was always at the center of these things. Regina and her impulsiveness, Regina and her bad attitude, Regina and….

As they walked, Emma watched the back of Regina’s head and seethed. Gone now were the feelings of relief and hope at being forcibly paired with her. Emma felt bitter anger that Regina should wall herself up against her, and at such a crucial time. How dare the woman put Henry’s wellbeing at risk by taunting the mermaids before? Greg Mendel was only obsessed with destroying magic because of the wrongs that Regina had done to him and his family. 

Hadn’t Emma been the one to pull Regina from the wreckage of the ship? Had Emma even heard a ‘thank you’ from Regina? Had Regina even acknowledged the lengths that Emma had gone through to get them safely to shore? Literal lengths! How dare she treat her as anything less than the hero that she was? She continued on this way, relishing in the scorch of indignation that continued to rise in her chest.

Then the sandy beach gave way into swampy mangroves. The jungle to their left had changed too. It had become denser, the night birds louder; the trees formed a canopy the would soon block their view of the sky. As they moved onward the jungle itself seemed to sing.

And still the women carried on in silence. Each of them ruminated on the their predicaments. Though they both carried a similar burden they did not seek comfort in each other as they could have. The distance between them only grew. 

Regina’s steps grew slower; she was exhausted. Her body ached, her head pounded. Her constant fear of losing Henry felt like a physical pain in her chest. The guilt that she felt for provoking the mermaids grated at her. She was also slightly horrified that Emma had somehow managed save her from the wreckage. 

What was it with this woman and rescuing her? She hated to appear weak in front of her more than anyone else. Emma’s constant need to prove herself a hero was one of the woman’s most maddening qualities. And yet, somehow Regina had begun to rely on Emma, hoping and then, expecting her to come through, to think of her. It made Regina sick to hold such an expectation. It made her sick to think of being let down by it. 

Regina could barely look at Emma now for fear of her heart swelling. So, she kept her eyes forward and her face flinty and hard. With any luck, they would find the rest of their party soon. Then Emma’s earnest attention would be back on her parents. Then they would find Henry. Regina refused to think of the other outcomes. 

Eventually Regina realized that Emma’s footfall behind her had quieted. She turned around and saw that Emma was slumped against a tree a few meters back. She was massaging her neck, her eyes were closed, and her face grim. Regina felt an involuntary pang of sympathy when she looked at her, making her scowl all the harder.

It had been getting easier for Regina. She had had a few really good moments; moments that she would never have thought herself capable of a few months ago. She had come through for Henry. She had withstood torture, absorbed a death curse, and stood up to Mother. It had all been for Henry, and yet somewhere along the way she had started to care, actually care, about the outcome of Storybrooke and its residents.

Regina had even cared enough to save the entire town at the expense of her own life. It didn’t matter that the threat had come from a curse that she had created. She had been willing to die to protect Henry and his home, his family… But she hadn’t been alone in that... How could she forget The Savior swooping in to help? How could she forget the feeling of their magic mingling together? Regina shivered, and the ghost of the memory whispered through her. She pushed it aside.

This was not the time to revisit such memories. Regina could not be weak; she could not indulge in something so insubstantial. The desire she felt to experience Emma’s magic flowing through her again could wait. It would wait for an eternity, most likely. 

Regina’s feelings made her feel vulnerable and she hated it. She already felt enough pain at Henry’s absence, she would break if she had to bear much more. It was easier then to fall back into her old patterns, to snap, to find fault in others before herself. She was too distraught to behave kindly, too appalled by what her feelings might mean.

“Do you really think we will get anywhere with you stopping to relax every five minutes?” Regina stormed back toward Emma, her eyes blazed.

Emma was momentarily shocked. Her eyes flew open and grew wide to see Regina as she descended on her, fury written on her face. 

“What?” Emma said, baffled. Her own fury stoked in her chest. 

“Here I find you… sitting and…” Regina panted and drew ever closer to Emma. She sputtered, trying to find words to vocalize the distress that she felt.

“Regina!” Emma said, and stood up. They now stood chest to chest, the mimic of a pose that they had assumed many times. “We have been at this for hours! What are you talking about? This is the first time I’ve—I’m sorry I didn’t tell y--” 

“This is all your fault!” Regina hissed desperately. She became acutely aware of how close she stood to Emma and took a step back. Her faced flushed.

“MY fault?” Emma said in outrage. She jabbed her finger at Regina. “This whole mess is hardly MY fault. If anyone is to blame, it’s YOU.” Emma’s face was as hard as her words. Regina barked a laugh.

“You should have let me die in the mines,” she jeered, “But no, you had to swoop in just to puff up your stupid ego--. If you had just done as you were told!” Regina was flailing. Her emotions had scooped her up and she didn’t know how to set herself down.

“Henry would be safe now,” she growled. “He wouldn’t be held captive on some god-forsaken island! How could you let this happen…” Regina gasped, finally taking a breath.

“Regina!” Emma said, aghast, but then noted the crazed look in Regina’s eyes. Emma forced herself to calm down. Regina was obviously not thinking clearly. One of them had to be in their right minds.

“Regina,” Emma said again, her voice now placating. Regina scoffed and threw her head back. Emma raised her hands, palms up in peace, and advanced toward Regina again. 

“There is no need to go on like this Regina. Come on, let’s just keep going.” She gestured in the direction that they had been moving. “Or do you need to rest too?”

Regina made no move to answer. Emma wondered if Regina had suffered a head injury after all. Her posture was ramrod straight and her fists clenched and unclenched at her sides. Would she use magic? Would she attack? Emma felt her stomach clenching in time with Regina’s hands. 

Then suddenly Regina’s head snapped in the direction that they had come from, her whole body poised. She was listening to something. 

“What is it?” Emma asked at once, her own posture rigid at the prospect of meeting someone, or something. 

“I can feel magic,” Regina said, her voice low.

“Pan?” Emma asked. She stepped closer to Regina.

“I don’t know. It’s not familiar to me.”

“Is it good or bad?” Emma pressed. 

Emma’s hands balled at her sides. They had no weapons to defend themselves with. She felt for the first time the desperate want of her own magic and cursed her inability to control it. It was then that fear for their lives started to creep into her consciousness. 

“I’m not sure,” said Regina. 

She looked at Emma, and Emma could see that the gloss of madness in her gaze had cleared. Emma let out her breath in some small puff of relief. At least she might be able to count on Regina now to fight alongside her if it came to that.

“We should find out where it’s coming from,” Regina said and moved back along the rocky beach.

“Wait,” Emma said, her hand reached out to Regina’s arm. “Isn’t this whole island magical? Could it be the island you’re sensing?” 

Emma wanted to make progress, wanted to find Henry, and anything that wasn’t essential was a waste of time. Regina looked down to where Emma’s hand rested on her. Emma removed it self-consciously. 

“The island’s magic is very dim. This feels more like an electrical pull; and it’s cultivated.” Regina spoke to Emma but looked outward. “It might be an artifact, or a magical creature.” She guessed. “Or a practitioner.”

“But there is no way to tell if its good magic or not?” Emma pressed. 

“No,” Regina said. 

She was still contemplating the jungle around them. The wind picked its way through the groves and blew Regina’s hair across her face. Emma tamped down the urge to tuck it behind her ear. She looked so tired. “I think we should follow it,” Regina said. She turned to address Emma directly. 

“Ok…” said Emma.

She was hesitant not just because of the possible delay, or threat, but because she didn’t know if she could trust in Regina’s judgment in her present state. Though the look of madness had faded from her eyes a bit, she could snap again at any time. Emma herself felt worn down and on the brink of some kind of break. She didn’t know if she was capable of playing caretaker to Regina while keeping this mission, and herself, on track. 

Regina had not seemed to notice Emma’s uncertainty. She started away from their trail. She moved slowly, with her hands in front of her, as though she was making her way through a darkened hallway. Emma followed with a shake of her head. She had a bad feeling about this. 

“It’s this way,” Regina said eagerly. She led them further from the water, deeper into the dark jungle.

Emma was parallel to Regina when it happened. They both felt it immediately. It was as though they had walked through an electric fence. The air around them buzzed then cleared.

“What was that?” Emma asked. 

A hand hovered over her chest. It was clear that they had crossed some kind of boundary. Emma immediately turned around and tried to pass her hand back through the invisible field. She pulled it back in pain; a magical current had coursed through her. 

“Emma!” Regina yelped.

“Damnit, Regina!” Emma hissed. She nursed her hand and glared daggers at the other woman.

“What happened? Regina, what did you do?” Emma growled.

Emma’s words kindled a spark of indignation in Regina and she rose to meet her aggressive tone easily.

“Oh, please,” Regina sneered, “You think that I came up with this one?”

“Just be quiet,” Emma said, “We need to figure out where the hell we are.”

“Spare me your wounded hero act,” Regina said. The two women moved toward each other. “At least one of us is trying to find Henry.”

“Don’t even Regina,” Emma said, her voice dangerously low. “We are only in this mess because you can’t control your temper, so let’s not pretend that you’re doing a great job at being a hero either.”

Emma felt treacherous, she wanted to affect Regina and make her feel- make her feel what? Remorse? Gratitude? A desire to be less bitchy?

Regina bent in even closer, her nostrils flared. Her lips were millimeters from Emma’s. Regina took satisfaction in Emma’s eyes when she saw them dilate, when her breath became irregular. 

“So noble, Miss Swan,” Regina purred. “So ready to help me when I’m at my lowest. But-” she continued, “How noble would everyone think you were if they knew how ready you were to leave your parents for dead? That you would abandon them, just like they abandoned you?”

Emma shook with fury and Regina smirked. She knew that she had hit a nerve. She didn’t care that the spark of anger in Emma’s eyes had been replaced by one of hurt and betrayal. Or at least, that’s what she told herself.

Regina pushed herself away from Emma and stood to her full height. Regret scratched at her skin. Regina tried to shake it away. Emma was retreating, her face grim.

“We better see how trapped we are,” Regina said, trying to sound dismissive. She kept her eyes away from Emma.

Emma composed herself. 

“Yeah,” she said. Her voice was cold. Regina shivered under it. 

The two of them began to track the magical current. Regina loosened the grip on her magic, which she had been keeping tight, and tried to feel for the wall. She moved forward expertly; she traced her fingers through the air. She searched for the shimmering gold magic and learned to recognize its signature. Emma followed behind, she laid stones or branches to mark their progress. Emma felt nothing of the magic in the air, nothing save for the occasional sting of the wall when she laid her stone too close. They worked in silence, the tension between them taut.

When they finally finished their task it was confirmed that they had mapped out a neat circle. Regina cursed. “It’s a fucking trap.” 

She growled and the magic at her hands crackled menacingly. Inwardly, Regina felt another bout of rushing guilt and shame, she had lead them here, Emma was right…. Outwardly she manifested her feelings by calling up a fireball and hurling it against the barrier. It ricocheted back toward them and grazed a nearby tree. The tree singed quietly and then the damp air stifled the flame.

“Regina!” Emma yelped. She was too shocked to hold onto the cold edge she had been using against her. 

“Let’s not burn down the jungle with us in it, please,” Emma said. Her ever-present exhaustion and frustration was making her whine. All she wanted in the world was to sleep. 

“Look, can we just call it a night?” she suggested. Emma was a ghost of herself and Regina met her gaze with mirrored exhaustion.

“What if whoever laid the trap is coming for us?” Regina asked. 

Emma shrugged. 

“Then we deal with. Better to do it on some sleep.” 

Regina hesitated only a moment before she gave a small nod.

They worked as if on autopilot to find a comfortable place to sleep. They settled for a spot beneath a lush tree with low cover. Together they flattened the tall grass that grew around the tree to hollow out their space of rest. It felt protected enough, cozy even, when Emma had finished bending the tall stalks so that they formed an unbroken circle around them. 

Regina shivered despite the warm air when she felt Emma brush against her. They had made their ground nest a fraction too small. Now they had no choice but to lay so close that they were almost touching. This was worse somehow than if they had been pressed together. Regina could feel the space between them as persistently as a touch.

They lay in silence, both of them awake. 

When finally they closed their eyes and let their tired bodies begin to recharge, the sun had started to rise on the horizon. 

Regina woke to the stifling heat of the midday jungle. They were well protected from the rays of the sun, but the canopy above them seemed to magnify its heat. Regina felt sticky, her shirt clung to her and her hair was badly mussed. 

Her mouth was also bone dry. She couldn’t remember the last time she had had water to drink. They needed to find a water source and soon. Regina removed her blazer, then after consideration her silk shirt as well. The relief was instant.

Regina looked down at what she was wearing and felt momentarily self-conscious. It was a skimpy little tank; she had never intended to wear it on its own. Not that her companion was dressed modestly, Regina noted. She looked over to where Emma still slept a few feet away. Her white tank top was plastered to her body, even dry it left little to the imagination. 

Regina let her gaze linger on Emma. She had never seen her this way, so soft and unbothered. Regina almost didn’t want to wake her. She didn’t want to see the hurt way that Emma had been looking at her. 

When would they find Henry? The thought was ever present and it pushed its way back to the forefront of Regina’s mind. She shook Emma gently. Emma’s brow furrowed in sleepy protest.

“Emma,” she said. Her voice was hushed and gentle as her hand. “I think we’ve had enough sleep.” 

Emma stirred in earnest at her voice. She stretched and took in the day around them. 

“What is it, the middle of the day?”she asked. Sleep was still in her voice, but her eyes were bright.

“I believe so,” Regina said.

She hadn’t let the gentleness of her voice go. After a few hours of sleep, Regina could see how her behavior had been erratic. She hoped that they would be able to chalk it up to stress and move past it. This was her way of making amends. 

Emma seemed to pick up on this. She took Regina in, she realized with a surprising jolt that Regina was wearing far less clothing than she had been the night before. Emma sat up fully. She felt awkward that she had noticed and tried to distract herself from the dew that was collecting on Regina’s chest.

“This place seems less creepy in the day light,” she said.

“I suppose it does,” said Regina. Her voice was dry.

“We need to find some water,” Emma said.

She had noticed Regina’s lips were cracked. Now she felt the terrible dullness on her own tongue. It was so hot, the jungle sizzled and they both had already begun sweat, depleting them of precious hydration. Just as they would have been useless without sleep, they were useless without water. The first thing that they needed to do was to find some to drink. 

Regina nodded keenly when Emma suggested it. Together they left their nest to look within the boundary. Regina was eager to leave their makeshift bed, both to feel the relief of the cooler air and to put some space between them. She needed to gather her senses if she was going to be useful in their hunt for Henry. 

They searched the confines for a spring or a stream. Eventually they had to concede that there was no fresh water to be found within the borders of the trap. A tip of their swath of land dipped into cove, but the water was salty. They didn’t have a vessel to carry it either way, and neither did they know how to go about removing the salt.

“Can’t you use magic?” Emma asked, “You know, summon water and a cup? Or filter it or something?”

Regina tried, but she was unable to use her magic to affect anything outside of their prison. In separating the water she failed and only drenched herself. 

“It’s useless,” Regina hissed. “We are going to be hollow husks by the time Pan finds us.”

Regina slid down onto a smooth rock and rested her head in her hands. She ached and her mouth was as dry as paper. Emma sat down next to her with a sigh. She was more tired than she had a right to be. Emma closed her eyes. 

They sat in silence for a time. The sun moved slowly across the sky. In the jungle beyond them they heard birdsong and movement of animals. There was a whole world to interact with. Henry was out there, just beyond their reach, but they were removed from all of it. 

Then the sky above darkened and a cool breeze drifted over to them. Emma’s eyes snapped open. 

“Rain!” she said excitedly. 

Regina perked up; she lifted her head and eyed the sky expectantly. Thick dark clouds were indeed rolling in over their part of the sky. Quickly Regina jumped up and began gathering the broadest leaves she could. Emma soon caught on to what she was up to and followed suit. 

Together they collected leaves and fashioned them as best as they could into receptacles for the rain. They had set up four medium sized water-catchers when the rain came. It pattered gently, and then it became a deluge. In no time their clothes were soaked through.

Regina held firmly to one of their rain-catchers. She willed it to fill, higher, higher as the rain beat down. Before it was full she lifted it and drank. The cool water filled and refreshed her. Regina set the rain-catcher down so that it could refill and turned to look at Emma. 

She had thrown her head back to feel and taste the rain. It might not have been quite as practical as Regina’s method, but the water was so sweet that she found herself grinning. She let the rain wash the grime and sweat from her. She sighed happily, she felt stronger already.

When Emma turned her face from the sky, she saw Regina watching her. Emma blushed self-consciously, though the cold rain staunched the color quickly. Regina’s face was so gentle that Emma was almost stunned by it. She didn’t think there had ever been a time before that Regina had looked at her like that. Like she was amused, like she was fond of Emma. 

Regina carefully passed Emma a nearly full leaf of rain. Emma drank it down gratefully. She gingerly passed it back to Regina when she had drained it. Briefly their wet hands grazed each-others. They had drifted closer together.

They held each other’s gaze for a moment, and then as soon as the rain had come, it was gone. The sun was already warming the air and making the moisture steam. They inspected their water-catchers and were pleased with the amount they had retained.  
Though they still wanted to drain them all the way down, they managed to ration two for later. 

“Hopefully we won’t need them,” Emma said. Regina only nodded.

When their thirsts had been quenched and the sun took back its place in the sky, the two women got to work forming a plan of escape. Both Emma and Regina agreed that magic would likely play a large role in their effort. There was also the fear that whoever set this trap would come back to check it.

“I’m sure that it was Pan,” Regina said assertively. “As far as I know there is no one as powerful on the island. I don’t think he would allow there be anyone as powerful as him. And this spell reeks of power.”

“You were pretty certain leading us in here, too,” Emma said.

Regina bristled but accepted the barb. Today she was trying. 

“The most logical thing to do,“ Regina continued, “would be to get your magic into fighting shape.”

Emma grimaced. She knew that this was likely the course that they would need to take, but for some reason she had a hard time accepting this responsibility. 

“So what then,” Emma said, trying to stall, “we wait around until Pan comes to check his trap, because he obviously hasn’t been notified that we are in here or he’d be here already, and then when does he comes, we jump him with magic and hope for the best?” She was more than a little bit skeptical.

“If it comes to that,” said Regina testily. “But I would prefer to try and use our magic to blast through the walls and free ourselves before he finds us here.”

“Do you think we can break through it?” Emma asked. 

“Miss Swan,” Regina said. She was getting impatient. “You were there with me at the mines, were you not?” Regina waited for Emma to give her a response. Emma nodded gloomily.

“Yes,” she said, “I was.”

“And tell me, do you really think that that trigger, which I spent years perfecting, is less complex than this electric fence?” Regina was goading Emma now and it grated at her nerves. 

“No, Regina. I don’t think that,” Emma said flatly.

“Well, then there is your answer,” said Regina.

Emma sighed. She didn’t know what it was exactly that was making her so unsure of the magic. It was true that she had used it several times in the last few months, and each time had been a relative success. Her family was counting on her, so what was with the resistance? 

Maybe it had to do with the way she felt the last time she had used it. In the mines the feeling of magic surging through her had been potent. It had enlivened her; it had made her want reach deeper. It had scared her. 

Emma knew who she was; all her life she had relied on herself and known just what she was capable of. Magic had changed things, magic had made her question just how much of her past was hers and what were the effects of the magic.

Then there was the matter of Regina herself. Though Regina had been acting quite heroic lately, there was still her achingly fresh history of abuse of magic. Not six months ago she had attempted to kill Emma and mistakenly poisoned their son instead. Could Regina be trusted in this endeavor? 

Emma blinked. Her train of thought was cleared by the look on Regina’s face. It had changed from hard and impatient to that gentle fond look that she had given Emma before. Surely a woman who looked at her former enemies that softly wasn’t planning some great new trick? Emma wanted to believe in Regina, found herself doing so despite all of their history. 

“I can teach you,” Regina said.

Her voice was firm. Her gaze held gravity, as though she couldn’t believe that her life had come to teaching Emma magic in an enchanted jungle. Emma nodded, her own gaze heavy. She knew what it meant to be taking this on. She had seen what magic had done to others around her. 

“This is all for Henry,” Regina said, as if reading Emma’s mind. “We need to do this together in order to save him. I know you want that.” 

Emma scoffed. Of course she wanted it. She could see the way Regina was trying to manipulate her, but the fact of the matter was they had no other options. This was their chance, who knew if they would get another one? Emma nodded again, resigned to learning magic at Regina’s hand.

Emma had had a taste of what it was like to practice magic with Regina in the mines. It had almost been like doing drugs.

What they experienced at the mines was very different than how they were practicing now. This time she found herself hunched over a pile of wet twigs, willing them uselessly to catch a flame. Sweat beaded at her forehead as she tried for what felt like the thousandth time to call forth the blaze.

“Focus on what you imagine the fire would feel like. Feel it in you, then draw it out using your anger,” Regina said this as though she was contributing something new.

“Think of every slight that you’ve ever experienced. Let that pain and anger be what guides you.”

For the last two hours, or so, Regina had repeated some variation of these words with little success. Emma had managed to create a tiny puff of smoke early on in the lesson. Both had been hopeful at first, but now that hope had started to dwindle. 

Emma was bordering on self-pity. She was sure that the only reason she had been able to use her magic before was because the stakes had been high. That and Regina’s magic had already been in play. She was losing faith in her ability to perform even the tiniest bit of magic on her own. 

She did feel the stirrings of her own magic within her whenever Regina used her magic. Emma thought piggyback off of Regina’s magic if only Regina would give her the chance. 

“That won’t serve you well if I’m captured, or worse,” Regina snapped when Emma suggested they pair their magic from the beginning. “You need to be able to rely on your own magic. Besides, if we are going to break our way through this barrier we are going to need all of the power that we have. If you are using me as your battery then I won’t be running at full capacity; neither will you,” she said.

“Why not at least to start?” Emma had wheedled. “Let me just get the feeling of it.”

Regina had relented and then Emma had felt the tug of Regina’s magic at her own. Emma’s magic jumped up at once, tangling with Regina’s and building in power. Suddenly she could feel it everywhere, hot and potent. 

From her hands a streak of lavender magic poured toward the twigs. They caught and burned with that same twisting pale color. Emma would have been mesmerized by it had she not been so distracted by the sensation of it all. The building of power within her kept rising and Emma shuddered. 

When she finally had the sense to look at Regina the feeling in her only mounted further. Regina had a look of pure ecstasy on her face, her eyes half closed and her lips parted. It seemed as though she wasn’t aware of herself, of how long her magic had been mingling with Emma’s. Her hands had been fisted at her sides the whole of their lesson, but now they seemed to be reaching toward Emma. 

“You can stop,” Emma said shakily, though it pained her. The feeling had been too strong, too enjoyable. She couldn’t bear to look at Regina, her lips soft and plump, and to feel her magic raging through her. It was too intimate. 

Regina snapped back to attention and at once the magic between them vanished. Regina cleared her throat, looking almost bashful, which made Emma’s blood run hot again. 

“Ok,” Regina said.

She had refused to make eye contact with Emma after that. 

They continued on with the lesson, a new tension between them. Their words were stilted, their tones business-like.

In spite of her earlier encounter with Regina’s magic, Emma felt further away from her own magic than ever before. Every time she tried to call up the spark, her mind and body where thrown back into the feeling of what it was like to have Regina’s magic inside of her. But the memory was not enough to wake her dormant magic and eventually Emma kicked the sticks away.

“I need a break,” she grumbled. 

Regina threw her hands up in frustration. 

“There is no time for a break! Pan and his minions could burst in here at any moment!” Regina snapped. 

Emma sighed. She knew that they were on a time crunch, that every minute that they spent not escaping, not finding the others, was one minute more that they went without finding Henry. She couldn’t help it though, the magic wouldn’t come, and if she had to sit through Regina’s piss poor explanation one more time she might actually lose it. So she wandered off and when Regina huffed but said nothing, Emma counted it as a win. 

Their fenced in area wasn’t that large, but it gave them enough space that Emma could comfortably stretch her legs without stepping on Regina’s toes. Emma kept to the back end of their allotment because she needed to not hear Regina’s irritated grumbles. She needed space from her so that she could cool down. So she studied the invisible fence. 

It crackled and pale strings of light shone in the afternoon light. As she lazily watched the sun dance across the faint lines, Emma let her mind go unfocused.

She hadn’t had any time to think in the last few weeks. Everything had happened so fast. Everything — from finding and losing Neal, to Regina’s attempt at heroic-suicide, and everything in and around it — washed over her. The time since she had come to Storybrooke passed before her eyes like a movie. 

She watched it like an audience member. How Henry had found her and how she had grown to love him like she had never left him. How she had finally met her parents and now she was growing to love them too. She had found all of these new friends, friends that could actually be counted on. All of the fighting with Regina, the mental and emotional whiplash that she got from her changing sides. 

Now Emma found that she relied on Regina more than anyone. Not just to teach her magic so that they could escape their current situation, but also because she was the only other person in the world who loved Henry the way Emma did. She was starting to think of Regina as someone else of hers. They were growing. Into what exactly Emma was unsure, but certainly the direction was a positive one. Even if they still had their spats. 

Then Emma froze. She could hear voices. Her heart rate picked up so loudly that she had to strain to hear over the sound of its thud. Could it be? 

“I don’t know,” said the unmistakable voice of her mother, “We should cut through this grove and see if the trail picks up again.” Then Mary Margaret’s head popped through the foliage. She was maybe forty feet away from her. She looked behind her and then there was David coming through behind her. 

Both of them were looking worse for the wear. Their clothes were ripped and muddied, their faces drawn. David limped and Mary Margaret had a nasty looking gash up her arm. But they were alive. They were here.

“Mary Margaret! We’re in here!” Emma shouted. 

She threw caution to the wind and banged against the barrier. She regretted it immediately, as she was thrown roughly back ten paces. Emma jumped up, her eyes huge.

“What was that?” David paused to listen.

“Just a bug,” Mary Margaret said dismissively. Then she sighed.

Emma hopefully pressed herself toward them as far as the buzzing barrier would let her. Mary Margaret was leaning down to rest against a log. Maybe if she could just make enough noise, they would hear her.

Emma scrambled for a rock to hurl at the barrier. The rock bounced back at her and she dodged it before finding another one.

“Oh, David,” Mary Margaret said and Emma paused. There were tears in her voice. 

“Hey, hey,” David said. 

He swooped down to comfort his wife. His arm enfolded her and she leaned into his touch. Then she cried freely. 

“Snow, its ok,” David soothed, “We will find her. We will find her and we will save Henry. Emma’s tough. I’m sure she made it out. She’s waiting for us,” he said, “Or better yet, she and Regina are already on their way to find Henry.” 

Snow sniffled and then composed herself.

“You’re right, I know you’re right,” she sighed. 

Emma wanted to call out again to make herself known, but a lump in her throat made it impossible. Instead she dashed another rock at the barrier. It zinged back at her and she dodged it mechanically. She watched her parents with a sinking feeling.

“Let’s go,” said Snow. She had composed herself. Fire was alight in her eyes. “We’re almost due to meet back with the others.” She looked at the sky for confirmation of time. 

“I can’t deny that Gold’s confidence is inspiring,” David said.

He held her hand as she stood. 

“If he and Belle really do share True Love, then there is good in him. I’m willing to believe in him, especially if that means getting our family back,” Mary Margaret said it with strength of conviction.

Then just like that, David and Mary Margaret turned and walked away, right along the invisible line. They kept so close to it that it seemed uncanny, their steps followed the neat line of rocks that Emma had laid the night before. Emma walked alongside them for as long as she could. She threw the stones and called for them. 

In desperation Emma tried to bring her magic to her fingertips. She tried to reach out through the barrier, to grasp them. She willed it and yet, it was no use. Finally she reached the end of her tether and could follow them no further. She stood and stared as they disappeared into jungle.

Regina was with her, had been with her, but she wasn’t sure at what point she had shown up. Emma felt like crying. She had been so close to being found. But her parents had gone, and she was left alone. Rage bloomed in her to cover her grief.

“Fuck!” Emma choked out. She turned and kicked the nearest root that she could find. The pain that radiated up her foot was grounding, so she kicked it again. 

“That’s hardly going to help,” Regina murmured. 

She reached out a hand to Emma. Regina was tentative at first, but when Emma made no move to pull away her touch became firm and confidant. Her fingers moved in slow soothing circles along Emma’s arm. 

Emma leaned in to her touch fractionally and let out the tight breath that she had been holding. She hadn’t been left alone this time, Regina was here and Regina was trying, and somehow the thought of that lifted Emma’s spirit like a kite. She breathed again and the sounds of the jungle returned.

They sat together in silence for a while. Eventually Regina began to feel overwhelmed by the gentleness of their exchange and she drew away. There was a part of Regina that yearned to pull Emma into her chest and console her. Part of her felt disgusted by the moment. 

That part of Regina knew very well that she was the reason for Emma’s sorrowful look. She was the reason that Emma had felt abandoned her entire life. That idea had slowly become a weight that rested on Regina’s shoulders and she felt it settle over her now more than ever. Regina pulled away from Emma.

“It’s…not their fault,” Regina said haltingly. “They’re looking for you. They aren’t going to let you go.”

“Ok,” Emma said. It sounded like she was going to cry, but Regina felt her body relax just a bit.

They went back to practicing but they had little success. Whatever energy they had sustained had dwindled and Emma’s concentration was poor, and her temper erratic. Initially Emma had been able to sense just the slightest hint of her magic, light and effervescent and too wispy to hold. Now she only felt herself, and how pitiful that was.

Emma tried until she couldn’t bear the look on Regina’s face. With each failed attempt Regina grew more impatient with her. Regina’ gentle demeanor from before turned to thinly masked impatience. Emma’s mood had come between them like a thick cloud. And all the while, the sun moved across the sky. The lower it dipped, the more agitated they both became.

Eventually Emma snapped.

“I can’t do it, Regina!” she cried. 

The emotion in her voice surprised her. She stood up and began to pace. 

“It’s your indecision,” Regina gritted out. She stood to be on the same plane as Emma.

“You need to clear your mind and let the naturally strongest emotion come to the surface. Use it, what ever it is Emma. Just let it come!” Regina said. 

She didn’t know how to reach Emma. They had been going in circles. Regina had run out of ways to kindly guide her. Emma was being obstinate. It was intentional, Regina was sure.

Regina didn’t understand it. When she had learned magic, anger had always been easy for Regina to use and manipulate, it had been the perfect fuel. It seemed like Emma had plenty of it and yet that avenue was not working for them. But that wasn’t all; Emma seemed to have a myriad of other workable emotions. The problem was that Emma refused to go deep enough into any of them to make them useful. They sat within her, just as buried as her magic.

“If you would, just—” Regina tried again but Emma cut her off.

“Regina, I can’t,” Emma said. Her face was hard. “Not right now. I need a break, I need—”

Emma cut herself off this time. She turned and made her way away from their camp. She needed to be alone, to smooth out the jumble of feelings she had swirling inside. She needed a minute to herself to calm down.

“Fuck,” she said under her breath. Tears had sprung to her eyes.

Emma leaned against a smooth tree and closed her eyes. This place was messing with her mind. The dreamlike perfumes of the jungle, the heat, and haunting sounds of its birds had such an effect on her. Aside from her baseline of general tiredness and worry over Henry, she felt almost giddy and out of control of herself. 

“It’s this place,” Emma said to herself, “It’s the magic here.” She closed her eyes.

Emma was having a hard time keeping her feelings compartmentalized. In order to remain fucking put together, she neatly packaged the things that were too hard to feel in a little metaphorical glass box. She could watch it there from where it was safe, she would only see and never feel. This was her way. It had worked fine.

The island made things different though. Practicing magic made it different. Henry being kidnapped made it different. Her glass boxes were cracking and Emma was being told to let them burst, but she couldn’t. If she did…

It had become increasingly harder to ignore her attraction to Regina. Being so close to her for such an extended period of time was new, and like everything else, it had made things different. Emma’s feelings for Regina, of course, had their own little box inside Emma’s consciousness. 

That box was filled with all of the moments that they had shared, the ones that made Emma’s blood pound hotly through her veins. The ones where a look alone from Regina had made Emma’s head spin. This was the box that she desperately wanted to keep closed. It had only become more full since she had saved Regina from the wreckage. Since she had felt Regina’s magic in the mines. 

Emma couldn’t trust that she would be able to control it if it broke free. Already the need to be near Regina was heady and intense, if she relented to the sensation, how big would it become? She couldn’t risk the tentative life that they were building with Henry in Storybrooke. She didn’t want to risk Henry’s relationship with Regina, which was in some ways was still fragile and new. She had to keep that box closed. It would only get in the way.

As if her mind purposely taunted her, it brought to up the image of Regina bent over in front of her from this morning. Regina had looked so smooth and soft; Emma had wanted to trace her curves with her mouth. She groaned into her forearm and tried to erase the memory from her mind. All day she had felt drawn toward Regina. And this was a major part of her problem.

Emma couldn’t be around Regina, not when she so desperately wanted her. Even as Regina snapped at her, even as their situation became more and more dire. Emma was distracted by her desire so much that she couldn’t make a simple fucking flame. 

“Pathetic,” she said to herself, but continued to indulge in thoughts of perspiration clinging to Regina’s skin. 

It was getting dark and Emma still hadn’t returned from her corner. Regina knew where she was, could see her at first. Then the sun had started to set and Regina could only see the golden sparks that sometimes flared when Emma threw something at the barrier.

Regina was annoyed. She was annoyed that Emma hadn’t been able to call on her magic, and she was annoyed that she had left her alone for this long. Every time Regina saw a spark she grew more frustrated. Regina was quite proud of the level of restraint she had held thus far. She had been thoughtful and supportive and now Emma was being a brat. And they were running out of time. 

The next time Regina saw Emma light up her corner she got to her feet. She left the little fire to burn without regard and strode to where Emma had holed up.

“Miss Swan, we don’t have time for your wallowing anymore. We need to find our son. You have a responsibility to him,” Regina said, all before she’d even reached Emma. Regina was unsuccessfully trying to tamp down the feeling of rejection that Emma had evoked in her. After all of the time and effort she had put into teaching Emma. The damn gentleness she had used!

When she got there, Emma stood. Regina came close to her, heat pounded in her chest. She wanted to spit fire.

“Regina, um,” Emma said, “I was going to come back—”

“What are you even doing?” Regina growled. 

Emma large eyes shone as she took a step closer to her. Regina couldn’t ignore that Emma was openly staring at her chest. 

Regina’s breath hitched, a new kind of heat building in the pit of her belly. Emma stared at her with dilated pupils, looking at her like she wanted desperately to touch her.

“I was just thinking,” Emma finally said, breathless.

The sound of her voice made Regina shiver. She didn’t know what exactly was happening between them at that moment, but she found herself inching closer. She eyed Emma’s lips, parted and full. Regina bit her own bottom lip and met Emma’s eyes again.

Regina had felt this kind of heat from Emma before. In fact, she had purposely sought it out. But Regina had never thought that Emma would look at her with such blatant want. 

“What were you thinking about?” Regina asked.

“You,” Emma said lowly, and without another word Emma strode forward and kissed her. 

Her mouth was warm and soft, even though the pressure of her lips made Regina’s body ache. She grabbed Emma’s hips, unwilling to let her leave. Suddenly the most important thing was to be closer, to feel more of her. 

Regina’s fingers twisted into Emma’s shirt. They grazed Emma’s smooth skin and Regina felt her tremble. Her fingertips felt as though they were on fire and the only way to cool them was to pull and caress Emma’s lithe body. With every inch higher they rose, Emma squirmed all the more. Regina felt her center throb and opened her legs to feel even more of her.

Regina didn’t think. She only felt and reacted off of months of pent up frustration. She wanted this. They needed this.

Then Emma broke the kiss so that she could nuzzle and suck at Regina’s neck; she bit Regina’s earlobe and Regina let out a rumble of approval. Emma swallowed the vibrations, wanting to consume Regina, wanting to absorb every sound and movement.

Emma backed Regina up against the nearest tree. Regina’s fingers were still at her back, urging them closer. Emma kissed her lips again and brought one hand between their bodies and under Regina’s shirt. She kneaded her way up her stomach. Then she flattened her palm around one Regina’s taut breasts.

Regina’s hips bucked as Emma reveled in rubbing Regina’s nipple between each of her fingers. Then she dipped her head down and mouthed it over the fabric of Regina’s shirt; when she couldn’t stand it any longer, Emma pulled up Regina’s shirt and began to kiss her stomach. She rubbed her face up and down, trying to coat herself in the scent of Regina’s body.

One hand had drifted lower and was working its way up the inside of Regina’s leg. Regina gasped and yanked Emma up. Regina kissed her with an open mouth, her tongue filling Emma’s mouth. Then Emma slipped her hand down Regina’s pants.

“Yes-” Regina gasped when Emma’s fingers skated across her folds. 

Regina grabbed Emma at her elbow and drove herself onto Emma’s fingers. Emma cried out along with her, sucking on Regina’s neck as Regina panted into her ear. The sensations were overwhelming. Emma ground down onto Regina’s knee in time with her own driving fingers. She felt herself tingling, on the verge of coming undone. But it wasn’t enough.

Emma broke away and feverishly tore at Regina’s shirt. Regina gasped at the loss, but soon followed suit and began to remove Emma’s top. Soon they stood with their breasts touching, their skin buzzing where they met. For a split second they eyed each other, as though they hadn’t already crossed some irreversible line. 

Then they were kissing again; every inch of exposed skin had to be touching, had to press closer. Emma’s arm came between Regina and the tree to hold her steady. Her other arm was already back to pumping wetly between Regina’s legs. Regina bit down on Emma’s lip and Emma jerked up.

“Fuck,” she choked into Regina’s mouth.

Emma was so close already, had been riding on the verge since she had felt Regina kiss her back. Now the heat in her center started to throb outward. It rippled along her body and built in intensity. Emma shuddered.

Regina was drinking in each of Emma’s movements. Every jerk and murmur, Regina felt it everywhere. She wanted Emma to come from touching her. Wanted to feel her shake over Regina. Regina wanted to be pressed so tightly to Emma that for a moment they would become one. The thought made the walls of Regina body clench and flutter.

Then Regina was coming and pulling Emma to her all the while. Emma rocked herself on Regina’s leg and she didn’t know if it was the friction or the feel of Regina’s quivering breath that tipped her. They came together, their teeth and lips crashing, their sighs swallowed by each other’s mouths. 

They stood together, their hearts pounding. Soon they caught their breath and the world around them came back into focus. Just as Emma was going to pull their sticky bodies apart she heard a noise. Regina cocked her head, she could hear it too, whatever it was, it was coming closer. 

They sprang apart. They fumbled for their clothes. It was two voices. Both sounded like young men. 

“Lost boys,” Regina whispered, her breath still hot of Emma’s cheek. Emma nodded.

“That’s why we are on our way to move him. Pan isn’t going to wait around while those grownups bumble around in circles out there looking for him. He wants him secured in the cave,” one of the boys was saying.

Through the jungle they could see the dim light of a torch. It appeared to be moving the same direction that Mary Margaret and David had gone.

“Henry?” Emma said and Regina gripped her arm.

“Emma-” she breathed, “if we can get through, we can follow them.” The look in Regina’s eyes was so hopeful that Emma quivered. Hesitantly she nodded.

Emma closed her eyes. The boys were moving away, she had to act fast. She could do this. Emma felt bolder somehow than she had before, fortified by her experience with Regina. She felt safe now, safe to open up the way she needed to. She thought of Henry and his crooked smile; the strength of her mother’s voice as she searched for her; she focused on Regina’s hopeful gaze, on the feeling of Regina’s arms tight around her, as their bodies rocked together.

Then white light was pouring out of Emma’s hands. It twisted and it surged into the fence. Regina was stunned for a moment, and then she snapped to attention. She added her magic into Emma’s. She was careful at first using just a little, and then when she was confidant she poured in more. 

Their magic combined started to eat away at the fence. It sparked and crackled. The spell that kept them was eroding under their force. A hole had formed and it was getting bigger.

“Come on-” Regina muttered. She opened herself to send even more magic into the fence.

Beside her Regina felt Emma stumble, but the beam of light from her fingers remained uninterrupted. The hole was bigger, it widened and it stretched, and then it was large enough for one of them to get through. 

“Go!” Regina yelled. 

Emma dove through the hole. Regina was right behind her, her hand in Emma’s. Regina felt the sizzle of the magic as she passed through. They were free.

Emma stood, panting. She clung to Regina’s hand so tightly that Regina’s fingers had started to go numb. The Lost Boys’ voices grew fainter as they travelled further away from them.

Regina’s eyes met hers excitedly. “Emma,” she breathed, “we did it.”

In response, Emma pulled Regina toward her and kissed her passionately. Despite her, Regina felt herself melt into the kiss. She clung to Emma who moaned appreciatively. 

“Let’s go get our son,” Emma murmured when they separated.

Regina grinned. “Together.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Art] Trapped together in Neverland](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20742776) by [Sarconistia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarconistia/pseuds/Sarconistia)


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